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20/00907/LAW Page 1 of 3
PLANNING OFFICER REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Application No. : 20/00907/LAW Applicant : Dr John Taylor OBE Proposal : Application for certificate of Lawful Use of existing detached garage as ancillary living accommodation Site Address : The Lodge Ballaquaggan Farm Douglas Road Ballasalla Isle Of Man IM9 3AD
Principal Planner: Miss S E Corlett Photo Taken :
Site Visit :
Expected Decision Level : Officer Delegation
Recommendation
Recommended Decision:
Certificate of Lawful Use Declined Date of Recommendation: 14.09.2020 __
Reasons for Refusal
R : Reasons for Refusal O : Notes attached to reasons
R 1. It is not considered that there has been submitted sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the garage shown in the submitted plans has been used for ancillary living accommodation (or indeed any form of living accommodation) and as such a Certificate of Lawfulness should not be issued. __
Interested Person Status - Additional Persons
None __
Officer’s Report
THE SITE 1.1 The site is the residential curtilage of an existing dwelling, Ballaquaggan Lodge which sits on the south western side of the A5 to the north east of Ballasalla.
1.2 The curtilage contains the house and a detached garage which sits 15m to the north east. The floor area of the garage is 9.6m by 8.4m 2.5m to the eaves and 6.9m to the ridge.
1.3 The garage has two garage doors on the western elevation with two rooflights in the plane above. On the floor plans these doors appear to have been blocked up on the inside so that there are only the windows in use. The southern elevation has an external chimney breast and a horizontally proportioned window to the right. The northern elevation has two small windows in the ground floor and the eastern elevation contains a pedestrian door. This elevation also
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20/00907/LAW Page 2 of 3
has a flat roofed annex formed from what look like shipping containers, which projects 4.9m from the rear elevation of the main building and is 4m wide.
1.4 The internal layout according to the survey drawings takes the form of a kitchen, bedroom, sitting room and bathroom on the ground floor with the flat roofed element laid out as a lounge. Up the permanent stair case are two further bedrooms, both with en-suite bathroom facilities.
1.5 There are three rooflights in the eastern elevation roof plane.
THE APPLICATION 2.1 The application seeks a Certificate of Lawful Use for the use of the garage as "an annex of the lodge" - presumably ancillary accommodation.
2.2 The only evidence that is provided is a statement of the history of the property, stating that the previous owner who is now suffering from dementia and in the UK and has no knowledge of matters on the Isle of Man. It describes the then owner as having applied for a three car garage which was refused but he then continued and built what exists today (a two car garage) which the current applicant describes as not ever having been used as such but was used as a residence. No rates were paid on the garage being a dwelling.
2.3 They refer to various alleged breaches of planning and building control procedures for other buildings within the former owners' possession and state that to his knowledge, belief and research the garage was used as a residence from 2006 until the owner's departure in 2017. No-one has ever, to his knowledge, complained about the use of the garage as a residence.
2.4 This statement is signed by the current owner, a Trustee of the former owner and a "lifelong friend" of the former owner.
PLANNING POLICY 3.1 Whilst the merits of the application are not at issue, it should be noted that the site lies within an area designated on the Area Plan for the South as not for a particular purpose and as such, there is a presumption against development as set out in Environment Policy 1 and General Policy 3 although there are provisions for the conversions of outbuildings to alternative uses including residential, under Environment Policy 16 and Housing Policy 16. This requires that such buildings are only eligible where, inter alia, they are of historic, social or architectural interest which this would not be considered to be.
PLANNING HISTORY 4.1 Although not referred to in the applicant's statement, which appears to suggest that the previous owner constructed the garage without planning approval, planning approval was granted for the construction of a double garage with space above under 05/01699/B. This was approved subject to conditions including the following:
The garage may be used only for the storage of private motor vehicles in association with "The Lodge".
4.2 The floor area of the garage was shown as 8.5m by 7.5m. 2.5m to the eaves and 5.7m to the ridge.
REPRESENTATIONS 5.1 There are no representations at the time of writing.
ASSESSMENT 6.1 The purpose of an application for a Certificate of Lawfulness of Use is to demonstrate that development has been in operation for the required period of time - at least four years for use
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of a building as a residence and at least ten years in the case of all other uses - to render it immune from the service of an Enforcement Notice under Schedule 4.3(b) and (c) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1999 and for building or engineering operations 4 years under Section 4.2(a) of the Act. In this case, not only has the property allegedly been used for purposes which are not within the range approved by the original planning approval, but also, the building appears not to have been built in accordance with the approved plans in terms of its length, width and ridge height. There appears also to be no planning approval for the chimney or the rear extension.
6.2 Aerial photographs from 2006, 2012, 2009, 2015 and 2017 demonstrate that the garage was commenced some time in 2006 and at that time and in 2009 there is no sign of the chimney although the rear annex appears on the 2009 aerial photograph. By 2012 and in the 2015 and 2018 aerial photographs, the chimney and rear annex are clearly in view. In the 2015 aerial photograph there is also a car parked in front of and parallel with the front elevation where the garage doors are. It is unlikely that a vehicle would have been parked there if the garage doors would have been functional.
6.3 The initial effective evidence is limited to statements from the applicant, signed by a Trustee of the former owner (without any explanation as to whether he would have any knowledge of the works in question) and a friend (again with no explanation as to how these people would have first hand knowledge of the works in question. No addresses for either are provided so it is not clear if these people live on Island and would ever have been to the site. There is no affidavit or confirmation of the authenticity of these signatures which is often provided in such an application. This evidence in itself is not considered sufficient to demonstrate without doubt that the garage has been used for living accommodation either at all or for the required period.
CONCLUSION 7.1 It is considered that there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that the garage has been used for any form of living accommodation, whether ancillary or self contained and as such the Certificate of Lawfulness of Use should not be granted. There is insufficient information contained within the application to demonstrate that the garage has been in situ in its current form (which is different from the approved details) although consideration of the aerial photographs referred to above indicates that the rear annex has been there for at least 11 years and the chimney for 8 years for which a Certificate could have been issued if the application had been for this, not the use. __
I can confirm that this decision has been made by a Principal Planner in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation.
Decision Made : Certificate of Lawful Use Declined
Date: 17.09.2020
Determining officer
Signed : C BALMER
Chris Balmer
Principal Planner
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